Department for Education

Children: Coronavirus

Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support children who were entering the school system at the time of the first lockdown.

Nick Gibb: The COVID-19 pandemic created a unique challenge for teachers, school staff, students and families, particularly for those children who were starting school at the time of the first lockdown. The Department has focused on addressing the effects of the pandemic and the challenges it created in order to improve outcomes for children. The Department’s strategy is focused on ensuring all children can access a high quality education, by providing excellent teachers, high standards and well evidenced, targeted interventions.To support pupils, the Department has provided significant funding to the Core Schools Budget and is supporting schools to offer well evidenced interventions which are targeted at those most in need. Almost £5 billion was made available for recovery, funding an ambitious multi year programme that includes direct funding to schools, teacher training, and tailored tutoring.The Department continues to provide support for younger pupils’ literacy. In July 2023, the Department published an updated version of the Reading Framework, providing teachers and school leaders with evidence informed guidance on good practice in reading. It has been expanded from reception and Key Stage 1 to cover Key Stage 2 and 3, to help schools improve reading for all pupils and support them to engage confidently with reading at secondary school.  This is on top of the Department’s wider efforts to give children a strong foundation in reading through the phonics screening check, support for phonics and the work of English Hubs. England came fourth out of 43 comparable countries in the recent PIRLS international survey, and scored significantly above the international and European averages, making it the highest performing country in the western world.This is supplemented by targeted interventions for those in need. The National Tutoring Programme (NTP) allocates funds to schools based on rates of disadvantage. Since the launch of the NTP in November 2020, nearly four million tutoring courses have been started to date. In addition, the Department’s Accelerator Fund (2021/22), supports the rollout of well evidenced literacy and numeracy programmes in schools, through English Hubs and Maths Hubs.On top of this, this year’s school funding will total over £57.7 billion. Including the additional funding for teachers’ pay, funding for both mainstream schools and high needs is £1.8 billion higher in 2024/25 compared with 2023/24. The overall Core School Budget will total over £59.6 billion in 2024/25. This is the highest ever level in real terms per pupil, as measured by the Institute of Fiscal Studies.

Schools: Buildings

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of schools at risk of closure due to disrepair or unsafe building materials in (a) Newcastle central constituency, (b) the North East and (c) the UK.

Nick Gibb: Education is a devolved matter. This response covers the approach in England only.Nothing is more important than the safety of pupils and teachers. This is why the Department has been putting significant funding into maintaining schools across the country. Where there are serious safety issues with a building, the Department takes immediate and swift action to ensure the safety of pupils and school staff. There are no open areas within schools or college buildings where the Department knows of an imminent risk to life.It is the responsibility of those who run schools and who work with their schools day to day to manage the safety and maintenance of their buildings. This includes academy trusts, Local Authorities and voluntary aided school bodies. The Department provides support on a case by case basis if it is alerted to a serious safety issue which responsible bodies cannot manage independently.The Department is currently working with responsible bodies, schools, and colleges to identify the presence of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) in their buildings. Once this work is complete, the Department will have a fuller idea of the presence of RAAC in the estate. Where RAAC is suspected, the Department’s professional surveyors carry out assessments to verify its presence. Over 200 surveys have been undertaken and by autumn 2023 we will have surveyed over 600 schools. If RAAC is confirmed, the Department provides rapid support to schools based on the advice of structural engineers. This could include funding capital works to remove any immediate risk and, where necessary, the provision of temporary buildings. Longer term remediation of RAAC is supported by capital funding provided to the sector, the Department’s rebuilding programme, and urgent capital support.The Department has allocated over £15 billion since 2015 for keeping school buildings safe and in good working order, including £1.8 billion committed for 2023/24. In addition, the School Rebuilding Programme will transform buildings at 500 schools, prioritising poor condition and potential safety issues.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Horses: Exports

Dr Neil Hudson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many horses were recorded leaving the UK via (a) Dover and (b) other ports in each year from 2016 to 2023.

Mark Spencer: The export management system does not record whether the animal is a horse or other breed of Equidae (e.g. donkey).

Department for Business and Trade

Government Departments: Iron and Steel

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to implement the regulatory changes outlined in PPN 04/23 - Procuring Steel in Government Contracts, published 11 April 2023.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: PPN 04/23 sets out the latest project appraisal, commercial and procurement policies which in-scope organisations are expected to reflect. The revised steel data origin requirements are now in force and should be followed. Cabinet Office have disseminated and promoted the Procurement Policy Note with in-scope organisations.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Private Education

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much funding his Department allocated to the Continuity of Education Allowance to fund school places (a) overseas and (b) in the UK in 2022-23; and how many children were covered by that funding.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the maximum level of Continuity of Education Allowance payments provided by his Department was for (a) primary and (b) secondary pupils in the UK in 2022-23.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much funding his Department allocated to the Continuity of Education Allowance to fund places at (a) Winchester College, (b) Eton College, (c) Rugby School, (d) Millfield School, (e) Charterhouse School, (f) Harrow School, (g) Sevenoaks School, (h) Oundle School, (i) Stowe School, and (j) Gordonstoun in 2022-23.

David Rutley: In Financial Year 2022/23 FCDO allocated funding of £13,796,075 to Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) for 514 children in boarding schools in the UK. In Financial Year 2022/23 FCDO allocated funding of £24,137,116 to 1188 children in education overseas.Legacy FCO and legacy DFID have slightly different provisions in relation to education of children when staff are serving overseas and bringing these together into a single policy provision is one aspect of the alignment of Terms and Conditions of Service work currently underway in the FCDO.In legacy FCO, it was a condition of their employment that members of the diplomatic service must be prepared to serve anywhere in the world at any time during their career, sometimes at very short notice. It is long-standing practice that the legacy FCO provides clearly defined and limited financial support to staff to help maintain the continuity of their children's education. Many parents prefer to take their children with them when they are posted abroad and are required to ensure that their children receive a full-time education from the start of the school term beginning after the child's 5th birthday, continuing until they reach school leaving age. In countries where there is no suitable free English language based schooling available (currently all countries except Australia, New Zealand and the United States), Legacy FCO will meet the costs of schooling, where available, at an appropriate English language school in the city of posting.However, there are a number of countries, where we do not permit staff to take their children for health or security reasons. In others, local schools of an acceptable standard are not available. Additionally frequent moves by staff and families between the UK and overseas, and between posts overseas, can be disruptive to the education of the children, therefore, legacy FCO provides Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) to support the children's education. This allows eligible staff to claim for termly tuition fees up to the agreed ceiling, school registration fees, deposits and examination costs. Where school fees exceed the ceiling, staff are required to meet the difference. The allowance is implemented within a strict governance framework and is reviewed regularly.CEA is a long-standing policy run under successive governments since 1996, and I refer the Right Honourable Member to PQ [60896] which outlines departmental spend on private schooling for the children of its staff between 1997 and 2005. CEA enables staff who continue to meet certain eligibility criteria to choose to provide an education for their children at a British boarding school in the UK while they continue to take up postings overseas at regular intervals during their career. Without CEA, we would be restricting certain diplomatic roles for individuals without families, narrowing opportunities to have a successful career in our diplomatic service.The ceilings for the 2022/23 school year are (per term, 3-term school year):​​Senior Boarder£12,471Senior Day£ 8,730Junior Boarder​£10,962Junior Day£ 7,674The breakdown of funding per school for Financial Year 2022/23 is as follows:SCHOOLTOTAL FOR 2022/23Winchester College£143,232Eton College£246,720Rugby School£99,820Millfield School£125,362Charterhouse School£171,760Harrow School£34,203Sevenoaks School£721,965Oundle School£487,449Stowe School£103,493Gordonstoun£130,805Total£2,264,809